As for posties picking up mail, no they don't here. But Australia Post requires mailboxes to be locked (or at least fastened securely) and will send you a note if they are not like that.

Most US freestanding mailboxes look like these (only blue). Personally, I don't like leaving my mail out for the mailman to take, I'm always afraid some is going to steal it. I'd rather just take it to a mailbox.

Aside from driving to a post office, I wouldn't know where to find a mail box in the US anymore. I've never had a problem with mail being stolen from my mailbox, but you do sometimes hear some very interesting stories..

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What part of v_e = \sqrt{\frac{2GM}{r}} don't you understand? It's only rocket science!

"The problem with re-examining your brilliant ideas is that more often than not, you discover they are the intellectual equivalent of saying, 'Hold my beer and watch this!'" - Cindy Couture

If you leave postage out for the postman, how does the postage get paid?

The same way it gets paid if you put outgoing mail in a public mailbox. I buy a book of stamps - about 16 stamps - a couple times each year. You put the stamp on the envelope before you put it in the mail box.

The US post office does have a "Stamps by Mail" program. You get an order form from the post office, fill it out, and mail it back with a check. They send your stamps in the mail.

For outgoing mail larger than a standard letter where a regular first class stamp won't work, you take it to the post office. They weigh and measure it and sell you the right postage.

Or for larger packages, you log onto the USPS website, enter the shipping weight and adress, create a mailing label and pay the postage online and then print it out and attached to your package. It's actually reduced postage cost for doing online. You can also alert the postman that you have it to pick up. Then you either leave by the front door or the postman will ring to collect it. We ship something weekly and haven't been to a post office in two years.

As for posties picking up mail, no they don't here. But Australia Post requires mailboxes to be locked (or at least fastened securely) and will send you a note if they are not like that.

They require no such thing. They 'strongly recommend' that you use one. The mailbox we have at the moment is the first lockable one I've ever had at a house, and have never received a note. Most aren't locked in my experience.

As for posties picking up mail, no they don't here. But Australia Post requires mailboxes to be locked (or at least fastened securely) and will send you a note if they are not like that.

They require no such thing. They 'strongly recommend' that you use one. The mailbox we have at the moment is the first lockable one I've ever had at a house, and have never received a note. Most aren't locked in my experience.

Note seems to be a recent thing - I got one last year and so did my mum (2 suburbs over). Neither of us have ever had a locked mailbox so I'm guessing ozpost are on a bit of a mission about it.

If I put a lock on my mailbox, it'd be a little padlock. So if I lost the key and spare, cutting the padlock off would be the go.

Oh so it's not an integrated lockset, but a lock that can be added onto the mailbox? So is there a slot for the mail carrier to put the mail in?

Sorry for the questions, but this is all very facinating

My mailbox is set into a brick wall. It's metal, with a slot at the front for mail. The back of my mailbox has a little door you lift up to get at mail. The door has a loop that would take a small padlock.

I have seen the integrated locks, usually on newer mailboxes or in townhouse/unit complexes where mailboxes are grouped together. No idea what you do then - guessing you can remove the lock as a whole and put a new one in. Either that, or repace the mailbox.

There are all different sorts of mailboxes around the suburbs here. This is one fairly common type

The last time I had a separate lockable mailbox was in an apartment complex and it just used my apartment key so if I lost it the management would have a copy (but losing my home key would be a bigger problem).

Or for larger packages, you log onto the USPS website, enter the shipping weight and adress, create a mailing label and pay the postage online and then print it out and attached to your package. It's actually reduced postage cost for doing online. You can also alert the postman that you have it to pick up. Then you either leave by the front door or the postman will ring to collect it. We ship something weekly and haven't been to a post office in two years.

You must have a home business. I don't. I mail 5 packages/year, all around Christmas. I take my packages to the Pack and Mail store 3 miles from my house. Pack and Mail is a private business that sells boxes and bubble wrap and tape for mailing packages. They will mail your package for you by USPS, UPS, or FedEx. For that convenience you pay a little more than the shipping company charges.

I'm in the UK - you can buy & print postage online here, you have to register for an account but don't have to be a business.

We have franking machines at work - he cost for franked mail is a little lower than if you buy stamps - the franked mail has to be sorted into bags for 1st and 2nd class, and the whole bag is then dropped off at the post office (or into a designated franked-mail only post box) I admit that if I have a package to send, I'll sometimes send it from work and put the money into petty cash, to avoid having to go queue in the post office in my lunch break.

There tend to be plenty of pox boxes around, here, so finding one if you want to post a letter is not usually an issue - there are at least 3 within a 10 minute walk of my home, and even rural villages will have one or two, so the fact that postal workers don't collect from individual houses isn't an issue.

slightly off-topic:PG Wodehouse claimed that he never bothered posting letters - he just threw them (with stamps on) out of his upstairs window, to save having to walk down to the street, and that someone would always pick them up and pop them into a letterbox.

A local paper in Cheltenham tried this not long before christmas, and found that just over 80% of letters were posted. I think one of the national papers tried it a few years ago and got well over 50%, even in major cities. I imagine it works best in dry weather, though!

Or for larger packages, you log onto the USPS website, enter the shipping weight and adress, create a mailing label and pay the postage online and then print it out and attached to your package. It's actually reduced postage cost for doing online. You can also alert the postman that you have it to pick up. Then you either leave by the front door or the postman will ring to collect it. We ship something weekly and haven't been to a post office in two years.

You must have a home business. I don't. I mail 5 packages/year, all around Christmas. I take my packages to the Pack and Mail store 3 miles from my house. Pack and Mail is a private business that sells boxes and bubble wrap and tape for mailing packages. They will mail your package for you by USPS, UPS, or FedEx. For that convenience you pay a little more than the shipping company charges.

I do work from home but the majority of shipping is personal: gifts for family, care package for college kids, returning mail order items. My account is a personal account and we always seem to have shipping supplies at home. So to me convenience is not having to go anywhere. But if you are going to need to go out and buy shipping items you might as well go to a service location.